Moment of truth

There’s always room for compromise in politics. But sometimes a U-turn is not an option – you have to decide between two parallel paths, and both have their own pitfalls. This is the dilemma the government is faced with at the moment.

The violent protests by the TLP left the government in a quandary. The protesters were demanding the government follow through on its previous purported deal. The government, terrified by possible economic and diplomatic repercussions of sending the French diplomat back home and at the same time perturbed by recurring demonstration of street power by the religious group, took the extreme step of placing the TLP on the list of terrorist groups. But the continued resistance by TLP supporters forced the government back into negotiations and ultimately led to another pact, which may possibly lead to the reversal of the ban on the party in the weeks ahead.

Prime Minister Imran Khan gave a policy statement on the matter in a televised address to the nation, warning of the serious downsides of forcing out the French envoy. Regardless of the TLP’s objective, submitting to the religious group’s demands would serve as a precedent to others to coerce the state on sensitive issues through street power.

On the other hand, even if the government is able to persuade the TLP to give up its demand, the religious group is likely to turn out stronger than before amassing more political clout – emerging as a constant challenge for the incumbent and future governments in policymaking on vital domestic and foreign policy issues.

Shortly before the government’s negotiations with the TLP, Prime Minister Imran Khan came up with a proposal to move towards solving the issue of Islamophobia for good. He vowed to lead a campaign against blasphemy by engaging Muslim nations. He called for forging a united front by the Muslim Ummah in order to convince the Western world to treat blasphemy with the same sensitivity it has for Holocaust denial.

The extent to which economic interests are dear to the West – and the Muslim world alike – was fully exposed after India’s revocation of Kashmir’s especial autonomy in 2019. Pakistan got little support in the West – the supposed champions of human rights – and among a number of Muslim friends too against New Delhi’s illegal actions in the disputed territory.

Things did not largely move beyond lip service. So, what would our prime minister do this time around for achieving a different outcome? Now his struggle is against more powerful and economically strong Western countries.

If we see the reaction of the Muslim world after Macron’s Islamophobic actions, we come across little practical steps by the governments of any Muslim state. Their condemnation was largely limited to calming the sentiments of their own public. Moreover, at a time when the Arab world is pulling back their support to the Palestinian cause and getting closer to Israel to secure their long-term political and economic interests, it seems more challenging for such a strategy to get any welcoming response from the Arab world. The failure of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take any tangible steps to meet the challenges confronted by the Muslim Ummah including Islamophobia reflects how tough it is to achieve Muslim unity in the face of divergent socio-economic and political interests of Muslim states.

On the domestic front, Imran Khan’s ‘feel good’ approach for the predominantly conservative populace seems to have started showing side-effects. People are being reminded of their glorious past, according to critics, in an attempt to divert their attention from inflation and such other problems, without going for much needed structural reforms in various spheres of life. Such methods, however, have begun showing an adverse impact. One such incident was witnessed during the recent protests. The clips of the very Turkish drama series, Ertugrul, promoted by Imran Khan, emerged on social media in support of the TLP protests.

So, this is the moment of truth for the PTI government which is already halfway through its term. Rhetoric has a limited life span, and the time has long passed. The government needs to be proactive to swiftly bring some tangible socio-economic change in the lives of the country’s people and avoid playing with their sentiments. Asserting the government’s writ is fine, but the violent protests must have triggered a sense of deja vu in the minds of the incumbent rulers.

Before moving for diplomatic action against Islamophobia, it is also necessary to figure out how an economically struggling country replete with mafias involved in hoarding, black marketing, profiteering and adulteration coupled with pathetic enforcement systems will grapple with any fallouts.

We cannot always control the contemptible actions of others, but we can try to transform our own lives in line with the teachings of Islam by adopting a sense of duty, honesty, civility and tolerance, which are in short supply at the moment.

The writer is news editor on the London desk, The News.

Email: khurram.mateen@gmail.com